Dependence

2 Cor. 12:9 "My power is made perfect in weakness...for when I am weak, then I am strong--the less I have, the more I depend on Him." (TLB)

It has been said that when God wants to do something great, He starts with a difficulty. When God wants to do something miraculous, He starts with an impossibility. The weaknesses or limitations that we possess will create difficulties or even possibilities in many of our situations.

When our weakness and limitations are combined with an overwhelming task, this can be an invitation for God to overwhelm us with His presence and power as He partners with us to accomplish the task.

I have a hard time viewing weakness as a good thing, but God seems to think otherwise. He seems touse our weaknesses to transform us from arrogant to humble, from insecure to bold, from impulsive to stable and hot-tempered to patient. This kind of transformation can only come from complete dependence on Him.

For me to realize a weakness, it is as if I've exposed an open wound. But what I have found as I have admitted my weakness to the Lord, is that I am taking steps toward freedom--freedom from carrying the heavy load of self-sufficiency. I can then cross over that difficult threshold of faith into total dependence on God. Of course, the only way I can do that, is to come to the end of myself. Why do I want to hang onto "myself"? I am not the one that the world needs to see, but Christ! When I completely depend on Christ through my weakness, it is His sufficiency and power that is made absolutely whole and complete in me. Then, the world no longer sees my weakness, but His power.

I just have to remind myself that it is about less of me and more of Him. My total dependence on God insures my security, increases my faith, and allows me to influence others to depend on God as well.

I guess we all need to remember that when we are feeling weak, that God is remind us to depend on Him. We can then boast about our weaknesses as the apostle Paul did, for through them, God's power is unleashed!

"Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong!" (2 Cor. 12:9-10)